The Internet enables computer users to conveniently purchase items from the comfort of their homes, offices, or wherever a computer can be communicatively connected to the Internet. Items that can be purchased via the Internet can include airline tickets, books, compact discs (CDs), car rental, sporting equipment, DVDs, hotel room booking, concert tickets, to name a few. Additionally, when a computer is connected to the Internet, its user is capable of purchasing and downloading music to their computer where it can be stored for subsequent use and/or transfer to another device. It is noted that when the computer is connected to the Internet utilizing a 56 Kbps (kilobits per second) modem, the download of a single song can typically take up to 15 to 20 minutes. On the other hand, when the computer is connected to the Internet utilizing a broadband modem, the download of a single song can take less than a minute. Alternatively, when a computer is connected to the Internet, its user is capable of purchasing and downloading movies to the computer for subsequent use. However, there are disadvantages associated with acquiring movies in this manner.
For example, one of the disadvantages associated with downloading movies from the Internet is that it typically takes a much greater amount of time (even using a broadband modem) to transfer all of the data associated with a movie when compared with the transfer time of a single song. Additionally, the transfer time it takes to download a high-definition (HD) movie takes even longer than the transfer time of a typically formatted movie since a HD movie involves so much more data.
Another disadvantage associated with downloading movies from the Internet is that the communication equipment of Internet service providers (ISPs), that provide computers access to the Internet, can become bogged down from the continual data transfer that can be involved with downloading movie content to many computers. Therefore, it can be cumbersome and taxing to ISP communication equipment to support the downloading movie content from the Internet.
The invention may address one or more of the above issues.